Sen. Erin P. Lynch (D-Dist. 31, Warwick) has been named the Chair of the Senate Committee on Rules for the 2013-2014 General Assembly session.

The appointment was announced last week by President of the Senate M. Teresa Paiva Weed.

Lynch, who is serving her third term in the Senate, was a Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on Special Legislation and Secretary of the Senate Committee on Judiciary during the previous legislative session.

Lynch also chaired a special Senate Small Business Task Force created in 2009 to explore methods to improve state government’s interactions with small businesses, which lead to enactment into law of several pieces of legislation during the past two sessions to make it easier to do business in Rhode Island.

The Senate Committee on Rules is responsible for considering all matters relating to the operating rules, functions and protocols of the Senate, which are adopted by the full body early in the legislative year.

Lynch was born and raised in Warwick, graduated from Toll Gate High School and Boston College, where she received a BA in history. She earned her J.D. degree from the Catholic University School of Law.

Lynch is an attorney in a private Warwick firm, where she has practiced law since 2001.